CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Day 1 of Conflux 8 was full of activity and broadened my understanding on not only techniques or styles, but of the publishing industry itself. I headed into Day 2 with hopes for more of the same—I was not disappointed. Conflux 8—Day 2 0900-1000: Using lessons from apocalypses past in your fiction with Ian McHugh He made me cry—or rather, the presentation on the Lakota, on top of the other tragedies and localised apocalypses, made me cry, but I challenge any one to put themselves in the shoes of this people and not be touched and angered and hurt on their behalf, and I challenge any writer to put themselves in the post-apocalyptic zone and not come away emotionally limping. If you do, go back over your manuscript and make sure you’ve captured what you want out of this genre of disaster and tragedy and conveyed it so your reader is pulled right in. And this is the point Ian made very well when he said ‘It doesn’t matter if your apocalypse is fast or slow or what the death cou...

Day 1: Those of you who know me, know I don’t do high volumes of people well… but most people can’t pick it. Until I’d attended three days of convention, I didn’t fully understand this about myself either. Day 1 was the first time I’d been to a public event in a number of years. It was wonderful. Full credit should go to the Conflux 8 organisers and panellists for putting this event together… and I am very much looking forward to Conflux 9, early next year. Now, on to Day 1: 0910-0950: The Opening Ceremony FILDENSTAR! Oh, wait, first there was Jack Dann opening the convention and welcoming us, paying respects to the traditional landowners of the ACT region, and THEN introducing Fildenstar, a pair of performers who brought us speculative songs like Ghost Butterfly Ships . Memorable. 1000-1100: What makes a good fantasy/sf/horror story with Sue Isle, Ian McHugh and Alan Baxter This panel discussed the different elements that writers should pay attention to, if t...